Senior Materials Engineer

UK Atomic Energy Authority; Culham; Hybrid; GBP 50,936 - 62,255; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Defined benefit pension scheme

Corporate bonus scheme

Flexible working options

Employee Assistance Programme

Generous annual leave

Career development opportunities

Job summary

A leading clean energy organization based in Culham is seeking a Senior Materials Engineer to contribute to fusion energy projects. In this role, you will manage materials science projects and coordinate with teams and external partners. You should have a degree in engineering and expertise in nuclear materials handling. The organization offers a competitive salary of £56,596 plus benefits including flexible working and a defined benefit pension scheme. This is an excellent opportunity to advance your career in the energy sector.

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent experience in engineering, ideally in the Nuclear industry.
• Technical expertise in nuclear materials handling or similar.
• Experience in a laboratory environment or materials research.

Responsibilities

• Lead materials science projects for fusion energy.
• Organize and coordinate projects including resources and sample preparation.
• Deliver high quality characterisation capabilities.

Skills

Nuclear materials handling

Remote handling of small samples

Irradiation campaign preparation

Articulating technical information

Delivering high-quality results

Education

Degree in engineering or similar

Job description

Join to apply for the Senior Materials Engineer role at UK Atomic Energy Authority.

By 2050, the planet could be using twice as much electricity compared to today. Are you interested in contributing and helping to shape the future of the world’s energy? If so, read on.

Fusion, the process that powers the Sun and Stars, is one of the most promising options for generating the cleaner, carbon‑free energy that our world badly needs.

UKAEA leads the way in realizing fusion energy, partnering with industry and research for ground‑breaking advancements. Our goal is to bring fusion electricity to the grid, supported by tomorrow’s power stations. In pursuit of our mission, UKAEA embraces core values: Innovative, Committed, Trusted, and Collaborative.

As an employee of UKAEA you will benefit from:

• Outstanding defined benefit pension scheme, details of which can be found at the end of this advert.
• Corporate bonus scheme up to 7% and a Relocation allowance (if eligible).
• Flexible working options including family friendly policies and the right to request flexible working from the start of your employment.
• Employee Assistance Programme and trained Mental Health First Aiders.
• Generous annual leave allowance starting with 25 days, plus 3 days Christmas closure and 2.5 privilege days, in addition to UK bank holidays.
• Wide range of career development opportunities.
• A vibrant culture committed to equality and being fully inclusive.

What to expect in our recruitment process:
For a step‑by‑step overview of how we hire from application to offer please see our Recruitment Process page: https://careers.ukaea.uk/join-us/recruitment-process.

Job Description

The Role

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy. As Senior Materials Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in undertaking materials science projects within the Materials Division as part of the UKAEA’s fusion research programme. Depending on the project, you may be working alone or in a team, often as part of collaborations with universities, industrial partners and/or overseas research organisations.

In this exciting role, you will determine the scope of work, recruit team or project members where relevant, perform experimentation, report and present the results internally, but also through conferences and peer reviewed publications. In addition to the general project management accountabilities, you will also act as the subject matter expert, advising on the technical aspects of projects relating to C&I, Remote Handling / Robotics, Electrical Systems and Functional Safety.

Key Accountabilities

• Organise and coordinate projects, arranging equipment availability, scope of work and resources for sample preparation, testing, modelling.
• Deliver high quality, novel characterisation capability in the field of nuclear materials through own endeavour and creative input.
• Compile and present results within technical reports and where required scientific conferences and through publication of high‑quality research articles.
• Build and provide management to a small team of material scientists and engineers, providing research direction and allocating them to as required.
• Lead in the characterisation of the materials required for operation in a fusion power plant, collaborating closely and building a network not just with internal stakeholders but with other fusion and GenIV partners in both academia and industry.
• Manage relationships with external collaborators to complement UKAEA's internal capability and enable access to additional expert knowledge and facilitate new project proposals.
• Propose, secure funding for, and contribute to, delivery of novel projects and capability aligned with internal strategy (e.g. STEP, EPSRC, PhD, Masters placements, graduates).

The salary for this role is £56,596 (inclusive of a Specialist Allowance).
Onsite working is expected for 3 days each week, however, we actively support requests for flexible working.

This role is based at the following site; Culham, Oxfordshire.

This role requires employees to complete an online Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), including The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks for criminal convictions and possibly a search of open source data.

Qualifications

Essential

• A degree or equivalent experience in engineering or similar, ideally within the Nuclear or alternative high‑hazard industry.
• Technical expertise in at least one of the following areas:
• • Nuclear materials handling
• • Remote handling of small samples
• • Irradiation campaign preparation and support
• Previous experience of working in a laboratory environment / materials research group / experimental campaign.
• Experience articulating complex technical information to both specialist and non‑specialist audiences.
• Demonstrable experience to deliver high‑quality results to tight timescales.

Desirable

• Experience in metallurgical preparation of materials.
• Exposure to PUWER, DESIR, IRR and other machine certification / regulatory guidance.
• Experience in technical project controls and documentation.

Additional Information

A full list of our benefits can be found here https://careers.ukaea.uk/life-at-ukaea/employee-benefits/.

UKAEA’s mission is clean energy for all, and we welcome talented people from all backgrounds to help us achieve this goal. We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion and strive to ensure fair representation across our workforce. We particularly encourage applications from groups currently under‑represented in STEM, including women and individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds, while ensuring all appointments are made on merit.

UK Atomic Energy Authority is committed to being accessible. Please email [e-mail] if you have any questions or require help or adjustments to compete on a fair basis, for example, changes to the way we interview or share information.

Please note that vacancies are generally advertised for 4 weeks but may close earlier if we receive a large number of applications.